Power management schemes are used in active electrical cables to adjust the power levels of active components (e.g., amplifiers) of the electrical circuits of the plugs disposed on the ends of the cables. Such power management schemes adjust the power levels based on certain detected conditions, such as, for example, whether the plugs are currently plugged into their respective sockets, whether low-speed signals are being transmitted over the cable, and whether high-speed signals are being transmitted over the cable.
An AOC is an optical fiber cable that is terminated on each end with a plug that contains an optical transceiver module that converts optical signals into electrical signals and electrical signals into optical signals. The plugs on the ends of the optical fiber cable have housings that are configured to be received within sockets of devices that are being interconnected by the AOC. Mechanical coupling features on the respective plug housings interlock with mechanical coupling features of the respective sockets to secure the respective plug housings to the respective sockets.
While few power management methods have been proposed for use in AOCs, those that have been proposed typically require an additional serial port or dedicated low-speed signaling pins to control the power levels of the active optical devices of the AOC plugs. Consequently, the plugs of the AOCs will not mate with standard sockets, such as standard USB or USB 3 sockets, but only with sockets that are customized to mate with the AOC plugs.
A need exists for an AOC that implements a power management solution and that has plugs that are configured to mate with standard USB or USB 3 sockets.